Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The Public Turns Against Obama in Oil Spill

In the five weeks since an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig sent hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, Obama had largely escaped political fallout. But as BP attempts yet again to seal the leak, a new USA Today/Gallup Poll finds a majority of Americans unhappy with Obama's handling of the spill. According to the poll, 53 percent rate Obama's handling "poor" or "very poor"; 43 percent believe Obama is doing a good job.

That is a -10% rating and if it gets much worse it will by Obama's Katrina.

Yet the poll also finds that the public tends to blame others in the mess more than it blames the White House. Asked broadly about the federal government's role, 60 percent rated the response "poor." BP got the lowest marks: 73 percent of Americans gave the company's handling of the spill a "poor" rating. Still, a whopping 68 percent say BP should remain in charge of the cleanup.

I like how the public understands that BP should stay in charge of the clean up until they have exhausted all avenues of attack. I think the government needs to step in and at least help out in the clean up phase while BP can concentrate 100% capping the well. Hopefully the "ton-kill" will work.